SEMARANG – The number of State Universities (Perguruan Tinggi Negeri) and Private Universities (Perguruan Tinggi Swasta) in Indonesia reaches 2,136 universities. However not all of them have complete majors or study programs. There are a number of departments that are classified as rare, including the Department of Oceanography.
Oceanography itself is a branch of natural sciences that studies the description of sea or ocean; including exploring scientific explanation of the sea and all its phenomena. In Indonesia there are currently only two higher education institutions which have Oceanography Study Program, they are Diponegoro University (UNDIP) Semarang and Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
Undip Oceanography Study Program is an undergraduate education program located at Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (Fakultas Perikanan dan Ilmu Kelautan). Oceanography Study Program of Undip has accepted 175 students in the last two years. The https://um.undip.ac.id/ page mentions that in 2019/2020 Academic Year, out of the 175 accepted students, 34 students are accepted through National Selection for State Universities (SNMPTN), 90 students from the Joint Entrance Selection of State Universities (SBMPTN), and 51 students from Independent Exam (UM). Meanwhile, in the 2020/2021 academic year, out of 175 students accepted, 36 from National Selection for State Universities, 53 students from Joint Entrance Selection of State Universities, and 86 students from Independent Exam.
The high interest in entering Undip’s Oceanography Study Program makes the competition for prospective students quite tight. As an illustration, on SBMPTN path on the LTMPT page, in this year there are 726 prospective students who have registered, while the quota for SBMPTN is only 53 seats. That way, only 7.3% of SBMPTN participants are accepted.
The Dean of FPIK, Prof. Ir Tri Winarni Agustini, M.Sc., Ph.D, said that Oceanography Undergraduate Study Program is relatively new, but the accreditation is A. Therefore, proposals are currently being processed to get international accreditation. The submission process is carried out simultaneously with Aquaculture Undergraduate Program and Marine Science Undergraduate Program, all of them are study programs at Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Undip.
The objective of Undip’s Oceanography Undergraduate Program is to produce reliable graduates through a carefully prepared curriculum. Meanwhile, the specific objective is to produce scholars who master and are able to apply science and technology in the field of oceanography in a number of activities. These capabilities include management, planning and protection of coastal and marine environment in high quality and sustainable manner, ability to carry out disaster mitigation in coastal areas, planning and developing coastal areas, and conducting studies of alternative marine and oceanic energy.
To produce reliable graduates, Undip’s Oceanography Undergraduate Program in the learning process is supported by Marine Station Laboratory in Teluk Awur Jepara, Research Ship, Physical Oceanography Laboratory, Chemical Oceanography Laboratory, Geological Oceanography Laboratory, Biological Oceanography Laboratory, Computing Laboratory, Modeling and Geographic Information Systems and Facilities, as well as ILS (Information and Learning Service) which is supported by the latest information technology.
